Having never even played either of THPS3's older brothers, I had been waiting to buy this game for a while; favourable reviews in magazines helped along my anticipation. Imagine my excitement when, about a year and a half ago, my copy came through the letterbox! I slammed it in and immediately saw what people meant when describing the game as cool. The intro video alone shows a man with an eyeball for a head freestylin' to throbbing guitar chords. I knew at once it was going to be the beginning of a love affair!

I chose to Free Skate (I was scared I would screw up, so chose to just cruise) and looked forward to the numerous sprawling levels, before being told, quite bluntly, that everything but the first level was locked and I needed to go through career mode to unlock them! "Oh well" I thought, selecting Choose Deck but was again told I had to unlock extra skateboard designs via career mode. Well, no matter, I selected Tony Hawk from the many basic characters and within several seconds of seamless loading time was whizzing around in a Foundry, thrashing half-pipes and getting air.

I marvelled at the tight handling of my character. The balance of arcade action and hardcore simulation had been perfected over a few games and the button pressing and angled precision were both rewarding and impressive. After getting a grip of the basic gameplay, I sunk into the atmosphere of Tony Hawk's. The music is great for skating to - The Ramones, AFI, Red Hot Chilli Peppers - there really is nothing like a 720 spin to the strains of Anthony Kiedis. After satisfying my need for a quick adrenaline rush, I set about unlocking things. There are set objectives, some that stay the same through each level (find the tape, get a certain score and so on) and some that change (stop the car chase(!), bury the bully and plenty more). You have plenty of these for each level and must complete them all to unlock everything.

Unlocking things could have been tedious, but it's quite challenging, which in turn is quite fun, as we all like showing off how great we are. Extra stat points are positioned around the place, allowing you to customize your skater and improve certain areas of his game. Also, each level has a hidden deck stored away in an out-of-reach place, ready to be grabbed, as well as character specific movies to get via winning medals. The level of interaction is helped thanks to a very impressive engine and in the Los Angeles level you actually cause an earthquake - that's how cool you are!

Well, after I'd skated through Canada (eh!), Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and an Airport amongst other picturesque settings, I discovered something terrifying. I had to complete every goal, on every level, to complete the game and unlock something very special. Then, do it another time with a different skater to unlock something else. Do this enough, you'll end up being able to... well, I won't spoil it. But new characters, levels and special cheats are in there, ready and waiting. Of course, it won't be easy. I'd say it took about a month for me, a Neversoft novice, to unlock the last level and most of the goals. Just with Tony Hawk. Not only is there huge scope in the levels, but also in the game itself. There's just so very much to do.

In the unlikely scenario that your friend says it's boring when he has to watch you (more likely he's playing air-guitar to the punk-rock soundtrack and giggling like a school girl when you screw up a trick and land on your head, causing blood to stain the ramp), then just throw your spare Dual Shock at him: Tony Hawk's has multiplayer options galore. A points play-off, a game of horse (with editable words... be sure to keep it clean!) and try and slap your opponent more times than he or she can slap you. I can still remember the first time I whacked my buddy's Bam Margera off the top deck of the Cruise Ship down through the glass and into the atrium. In fact, I can also remember when I jumped off the hidden half-pipe in the neon-lit Tokyo level and pulled of a few flip tricks before landing right on Chad Muska's head. Just like GoldenEye and Counterstrike before it, Tony Hawk's is full of memorable multiplayer mayhem.

Oh yes, I almost forgot the small matter of this being the first online PS2 game ever! In fact, it's still the only proper online European PS2 game. You need broadband, and a third party modem and I haven't actually played it online, but people who have swear by it. It may seem old hat now, but the ability for a console game to let you 540 tailspin with people all around the world was pretty special when the game was released.

The gameplay is great and not at all repetitive, with sprawling, populated, well-designed levels to skate through. The graphics are crisp and smooth, despite a little slowdown in two-player mode. Cool music adds to the already ultra-cool game. The career mode is long and will definitely keep your attention. The Free Skate will appease those with no sense of urgency about any social life and the 2-minute quick session will settle your need for the Ultimate Rush.

But should you really bother? After all, Tony's got a fourth one out at the moment, and a fifth will only be a year away. Well, honestly - yes. And shame on you for even questioning my judgement! I'd say Tony Hawk's 3 is the game that's spent the most time in my PS2, along with Pro Evolution Soccer. I have number four and I don't think it's as good. There's more challenges, a few whistles and bells but it's about twenty quid more and right here you have better levels, a better soundtrack (in my opinion, anyway) and enough money saved to buy another platinum range classic like Devil May Cry, Gran Turismo 3 or Monsters Inc. And you can't ask for better than that!

Reviewed by AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).